A separate administrative body for track and field athletics in the Asian continent came into being in 1973 along with the first-ever Asian Athletics Championships after several attempts to establish it in the earlier years went in vain.

Before the creation of the Asian Amateur Athletic Association the athletes from the continent, which holds two-thirds of the global population, had to rely on only the quadrangular Asian Games to exhibit their talent apart from the Olympic Games.  However, the officials from various nations in Asia realised the importance of having a separate organisation to look after their sport’s development and growth without depending on the multi-sport extravaganzas.

The idea of the Asian Track and Field Championships was first conceived during the 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta by Maj Gen Aziz Salleh, the then President of the Indonesian Federation.  Later, similar proposals of holding it came from Malaysian AAU President Tan Sri Mohamed Ghazali Shafie, at the 1966 Asian Games, and then by Sardar Umrao Singh of India in 1970.

Finally, the organisation became a reality when Governor Jose C. Sering, President of the Philippines Track and Field Association, took the pilot’s seat and successfully organised the first Asian Track and Field Championships in Marikina Stadium, near Manila, in November 1973.

The first Congress of the newly formed Asian Amateur Athletic Association was held in Manila on 20-21 November 1973 where Governor Jose C. Sering became the first President of the continental body officially and appointed Mr. Maurice R. Nicholas of Singapore as its first Secretary-General.  The IAAF approved the newly formed establishment as its continental arm for Asia in the following year.

As per the first constitution of the Asian AAA, the Presidents served only their term of office until the next Championships.  Hence in 1975, Mr. Lee Choo Hoon of Korean AAF took the baton from Gov. Sering after the 2^nd edition of the Asian championships held in Seoul.  The third edition, originally planned in India in 1977, had to be postponed due to a conflict of interest arising between Israel and the Arab countries.

After some deliberations, the European Athletics Association volunteered to take Israel in its folds.  That helped Tokyo come forward to organise two back-to-back Asian championships in 1979 and 1981.  During that period Mr. Seiko Yasuda was elected as a third President of the Association.   During his tenure, the Asian Junior Championships (1986) and Asian Marathon Championships (1988) were created.

There was a constitutional amendment in 1979 that allowed the term of office-bearers to four years and the limitation of holding office also relaxed.  These changes paved the way for Mr. Yasuda to continue as President until he opted to retire in 1991.

It was during his term of office that Mr. Yasuda brought many changes and a proper Secretariat was established in Singapore to look after the day-to-day affairs of the Association and a bank account was opened in the name of the Asian AAA.  At that time the IAAF Council decided to provide an administrative grant for area offices.  However, the President realised that to improve the efficiency of the Association more funds are needed.  He successfully brought in a number of sponsors to create a decent functioning of the Secretariat and to improve the communications between it and the member federations.

Mr. Mohamad Bob Hasan (Indonesia) took over as the fourth President of the Association in 1991.  It was during his tenure that six of the former Soviet Republics (i.e. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) joined the AAA family.  Azerbaijan, after actively taking part in many Asian competitions for a few years, later went to join the European Athletics citing its proximity to that Area and considering the time-consuming travel to various Asian destinations.

During Bob Hasan’s time, AAA faced a lot of financial constraints which the then President was able to manage and support efficiently.

The honour of leading the continental body went to Mr. Suresh Kalmadi of India in 2000.  It was during his tenure, Mr. Kalmadi introduced the Asian Grand Prix series (2002), Asian All-Star Athletics Meet (2004), Asian Indoor Athletics Championships (2004) and the Asian Race Walking Championships (2006).  He was holding the post of President until 2013 when Qatar’s Gen. Dahlan Jaman Al-Hamad took the challenge of leading the Asian Athletics Association and successfully running the organisation at present.

Gen. Dahlan, giving importance to the young and upcoming talents in Asia, successfully hosted the inaugural Asian Youth (U18) Championships in Doha and was innovative in creating the Doha Diamond League, which used to be a launch pad for a series of DL meetings across the globe each year.

Gen. Dahlan envisages the importance of women by giving them increased participation in the Council and Commissions of the AAA.  To enlarge the activities of the Association and to build up different departments the Secretariat was moved to Bangkok under his guidance.

During the pandemic crises, the President guided the Member Federations through AAA Medical Commission to increase the awareness of athletes and officials.  He also increased the financial budget to encourage the functioning of the Regional Associations and to conduct more competitions in their respective regions.

Further, a modified constitution that allowed members from all regions to take active participation in the Council, and established the Awards Celebrations to remember and appreciate the accomplished people were also the brainchild of the President.

With his novel ideas and a firm commitment to taking Asian Athletics to the next level, President Gen. Dahlan introduced a variety of new competitions to be introduced in Asia under his dynamic leadership.